What to Do If a Fish Dies in the Tank | Aquarium Care

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Most people think that if a fish dies, it's going to foul the water and it's going to kill the other fish. Whatever killed that fish is now in the water, and I now have to change all the water. That's a misnomer. You don't want to do that. You want to remove the fish from the tank if you can find it, but unfortunately with a lot of large aquariums, if a fish dies, it's stuck behind a rock and it's very hard to find. There's nothing wrong with leaving it in there. It's just going to produce a little bit of nutrients that your filter will then have to remove. But, if you have a strong filter and you keep it clean, it should easily be able to handle the waste produced by the one fish that has died.

Most living parasites and diseases a require a living host. Once that fish dies, those parasites and diseases have already moved on to the water column or to other fish. So, it's already in your system. You don't have to worry about removing the fish to prevent this disease from spreading. It's already probably already affected your other fish. You just didn't realize it yet. Or, the other fish are stronger, their immune system is strong enough to fight off whatever killed that fish, if it wasn't just water chemistry or stress alone.

So, as a rule of thumb, always remove your fish, but you do not have to remove the fish or the water from the aquarium when a fish dies. It's probably good practice to investigate. Any time a fish does die, it does tax the system a little bit more, but you certainly don't have to remove all the water and remove the fish when a fish dies.

[candicem.]

My algae feeder just died and I did remove it. I thought the next step was to clean the tank and replace with new water to protect the other fish.I thought the water may be toxic. I'm glad I watched this video, first. Thanks👍

[elliejayne]

My goldfish died today after having him for ten years. We dont know what killed him though.

Edit: according to google it couldve just been his age and I hope it is

[PhantomAkGaming]

Thanks bro for the info helped me a lot

[goldexx]

actually it depends. As soon as one of my cleaner fish type things died, he put a disease type thing in the tank adding to the algae and stuff he was supposed to be cleaning and then my other fish died too.

[thatfishguy]

"Always move your fish, but you do not have to move your fish.

[phyll]

My fish died today but i dont know why. I know its strong enough (i dont have such a big aquaruim.But i didnt do anything wrong? or did or.. maybe a dumb question..but
Is it possible that he still lives but doesnt move?
I didnt noticed a few days before plz help!! fast

[aayushsingh]

my 7 fishes dies due to lack of oxygen i turned off the air pump accidentaly i am murderer may they find their way to heaven god bless them

[lulamoonlight]

I have 3 goldfish that are really sick and I have a huge tank for them and I’m so stressed I can’t take care of them and I dont know what to do I’m lost should I get a smaller tank so I can treat them

[kylerhodes]

I bought 9 neon tetra today, they died within 3 hours of being in the tank I have a pleco an angel and a dwarf something I cant remember but why did they die instantly I also just started the tank yesterday any answers?

Edit: I removed them all instantly, I think Im just gonna wait it out. Such an impatient prick I stg

[teamigofficial]

What happened to my fish they all disappeared and I check if they had gotten stack in anything and they didn't?

[melodylaija]

I got 4 small see through fish at in indoor swap meet n the fist day as I got them the first day the green one dies then the next day the orange n pink one died today. Now all I have left is the blue one I put in a different tank so far still living.

[tiredtraitor]

I have 3 fish, and one of them(dan) is swimming near the bottom and he was gasping for air.
:(

[experimenter]

My beta fish just died oil looked it up it’s most likely I did to big of a water change resulting in his death I named him blue you will be missed blue we had a good year

Here lies Blue 2017-2018

[freespirit]

My 1 fish died and 2 are still surviving but are in last stage what to do 😣 i didn't know about the death reason as i woke up just now ....

[fakefakefake]

My fish Pebble died today On December 5 on a Tuesday...May she swim high to heaven....I am no joke crying....R.I.P August 7 to December 5th 😣😮😩😰😭

[truth.hurts...]

I had 2 fish that died no more fish in the tank should I empty the water

[svet]

I'm scared because I'vehad a fish for a month and we just changed the water. The problem is there was only a tiny bit of filtration for the tap-water and I feel like the fish may die. Somebody please respond, I'm anxious for my little fish friend.
: (

edit: Nah he gud. We replaced the filter.

[lillietaylor]

my cat got to my fish and killed one that was on the floor when I got home from work.  Now their dying one by one. Did bacteria from my cats claw get into the water?

[glenpennington]

2 of my fish died Dx one was probably too old. And one was only a baby fish :(

[goingbreadanas]

Just lost my frog, it’s tankmate isn’t dealing so good with the loss